Ben Hirasawa, Founder, BH2I
Character and culture are often at crossroads in large law firms. They rely too much on risk management instead of prioritizing leadership with integrity. This primitive mindset and flexible morality of convenience rarely lead to outcomes that are in the best interests of the client, in addition to being bad for business and obtusely tone-deaf. As Benjamin Hirasawa, a leading and recognized practitioner witnessed increasing disgraceful incidents of this industry scenario, he unwaveringly vowed to break the mold. As a result, BH2I, a leading corporate, real estate, and hospitality legal and consulting services firm was born in March 2020. BH2I’s untimely inception during the onset of the global pandemic was the result of a moral crucible of intestinal fortitude in which compromise was never an option. Driven by a firm belief in acting in the best interests of clients, today the pioneering firm provides practical and commercially sound legal and consultancy services to leading global, regional, and national clients on international business transactions by advising on all aspects of the foreign direct investment, project and transaction lifecycles. “Doing business in the Asia-Pacific region extends beyond a mere transactional relationship; delivering creative and innovative solutions with personalized service and world-class work product that adds value to transactions is at the heart of acting in a client’s best interests and a foundational principle of BH2I,” asserts Benjamin.
Ensuring On-Time and On-Budget Delivery of Services to Clients
BH2I stands for Benjamin Hirasawa Hospitality International. Headquartered in Singapore and Thailand, the firm provides corporate, real estate, and hospitality legal and consulting services in Asia, Australasia, the Middle East, Europe, New York, and California. As a hospitality specialist, BH2I and its sister company, Marlborough Hospitality Services offer expert services relating to all aspects of the hotel project development cycle, including, design, pre-opening services, and hotel operations. Led by top of the market professionals with over 80 years of direct experience in the hospitality industry, Marlborough specializes in giving legal and analytical advice to hotel developers, investors, and hotel management companies, and in negotiating and documenting deal terms.
Most legal issues in the hospitality sector are intertwined with fundamental operational or commercial concerns; BH2I has the rare capability to offer comprehensive solutions that address both legal and commercial challenges faced by hotel operators and owners in a practical manner that reflects how hotel development and operations function, rather than from merely a theoretical legal perspective. “Ultimately our consistency of dedication to a client-centric and results-focused approach results in on-time and on-budget delivery of services to our clients. No lawyer or firm is perfect or infallible, but our clients know that any unexpected twists and turns in the road will not be due to our negligence to appreciate the importance of the client relationship or the transaction, or lack of effort or commitment to achieving a result consistent with their best interests,” states Benjamin.
Fostering Long Standing Client Relationships
The clients at BH2I range from family-owned businesses to global corporate entities. The sole purpose of BH2I is to be a “trusted adviser” for its clients, as opposed to merely a provider of commoditized legal services. It strives to comprehensively understand its clients’ businesses and the markets in which they operate and promptly address and resolve all their concerns through dedicated, efficient, commercially sound, feasible, and result-oriented solutions. No wonder, most of its client relationships are long-standing for over a decade. BH2I has nurtured strong client relationships over the years through a meticulous level of personal attention and detail born out of a sincere desire for the clients to succeed personally and professionally. “Each client is unique and has different expectations, needs, goals, and ways of doing business. We communicate openly and transparently, work one-on-one with key decision-makers every step of the way, and leave no stone unturned to do what we say we are going to do,” opines Benjamin.
BH2I’s proven track record of successfully guiding clients through different business cycles, and new business lines and markets give its clients confidence that the pioneering firm can be trusted with their core business and achieve successful outcomes for ‘bet the business’ strategic decisions in unchartered waters or frontier markets. The ongoing strength of these interpersonal relationships makes it evident that BH2I values its clients and puts their best interests first.
Finding New and Better Ways of Solving Challenges
Most of BH2I’s clients are engaged in cross-border transactions and require realistic practical commercial guidance on managing risk while simultaneously maintaining deal momentum and making educated decisions that will justify the time, effort, and capital invested in a new and relatively unfamiliar business venture. Lack of knowledge and experience of working in foreign jurisdictions with different legal systems and business cultures can create tentativeness, or conversely, result in unnecessary resources being expended due to leaping without looking at threshold issues.
With decades of experience in working together in the Asia Pacific region and beyond, BH2I’s core team is able to find new and better ways of solving challenges and moving past transaction impasses. Its carefully vetted regional and global affiliates provide additional bench strength and reliable domestic niche expertise that can be trusted in the context of a verified long-term relationship. “Time is a deal killer; we emphasize attentive promptness to ensure transactions move forward to completion and leverage our knowledge of industry-specific deal structures and regional markets to ensure clients are not exposed to unnecessary risk or leave money on the table,” adds Benjamin.
Pursuing Excellence with Values at the Core
All businesses stand on their core values including the bedrock values of integrity, trust, and excellence. BH2I goes beyond and integrates uncompromising ethical decision-making, diversity, honesty, teamwork, and respect for its clients, colleagues, communities, and profession into its work culture. “We value integrity in our personal and professional relationships above all. Consistently acting with accurate and honest communication is a prerequisite for trust and effective teamwork, which is our competitive advantage. It can be disheartening to realize that the emperor has no clothes, but we are not afraid of inconvenient or uncomfortable truths; any epiphany in this regard will not go unaddressed,” affirms Benjamin.
Staying true to these core values, the firm continues delivering successful, cost-efficient results for clients in the Asia Pacific region and beyond. “Refusal to compromise our core values is essential to the faith and credibility required by clients who trust us with bet the business decisions and know BH2I has the courage and conviction to always act in their best interests with honesty and truthfulness. Practicing with integrity is our commitment to the success of our clients and firm. It’s who we are,” concludes Benjamin.